Page 27 of Cruel Revenge
“You don’t own Texas, Jacky,” Carey pointed out, smiling.
“No, I’m the werecat in charge of all the Americas,” I said with a toothy smile.
“And you hate that job,” Carey retorted.
“I hate it less in more recent months. The werecats have been playing nice since we all worked together in Dallas. The BSA hasn’t needed me in months for my other role as therepresentative to humanity. Such a mouthful, that title.” I rolled my eyes, getting a chuckle out of her.
“Yeah, it is. I’m happy you’re doing better, Jacky. I know how much you hated all of it when it started.”
“Everyone needs to be adaptable. Expecting life not to change through the years is unreasonable… And I’m a moon cursed. I Change a lot,” I said with a smirk, making her roll her eyes. “Plus, I realized that holding my positions and staying on top of them means I get to live more freely than if I let them get out of hand or tried to ignore them and my place in the world entirely. Werecats don’t want to overthrow my family, humans think everything is fine and don’t see a need to come ask questions…” I shrugged. “And really, that’s all I want. To be able to live peacefully with the people I care about. I’m just settling in with the fact that to live peacefully means to put in the work so I can.”
“You’ve changed a lot.”
“I know,” I said softly.
“It’s not bad. You’re still Jacky. And now with the witches, you and Dad have to work a lot to make sure we’re all safe. Because we can’t just ignore what they’re doing. They’re trying to cause problems, so the powerful supernaturals have to fight for the weaker ones. We have to stop them from hurting people.” Carey smiled.
“And honestly? That’ssoyou. You’re always fighting for everyone else. You say it’s because you want to live peacefully, like you’re trying to sound selfish or something, but really, you just believe in justice and fairness and everyone being able to live how they want to live if they aren’t hurting anyone. I’d say you were just avoiding who you really were for a long time.”
I studied her, listening to her carefully. It wasn’t the first time someone called me out, and if anyone knew me well, it was certainly Carey Everson.
“You give me too much credit,” I said as I sat down finally, breaking the long silence left behind by her statement.
“You give yourself too little,” Carey retorted. “And I bet all the money in my college savings account that everyone I know would agree with me.”
“I won’t take losing bets even if I think everyone is wrong,” I said, shaking my head. But I was deeply moved by her faith in me and her perception of who I was. “Sometimes, I feel terribly selfish,” I admitted. “But that’s for me to deal with, not you.”
“Please. Selfish? You mean a person with values and character, because you don’t just fight for your right to live the life you want, you fight for everyone’s. So long as they don’t hurt others, and if they are, you’re willing to stand up and take them on.”
“It’s just the right thing to do,” I pointed out. “I’m not seeking these situations, you know. I’m not trying to play hero or anything.”
“But a lot of people don’t do it, and even if you aren’t trying to be a hero… youarea hero to a lot of people.”
She’s not wrong about that first part. A lot of people don’t do the right thing. A lot of people turn a blind eye to the suffering of those they don’t feel are the same as them.
“Thank you, Carey.”
“Just being honest.” Carey’s casual shrug dismissed the entire topic.
“I think you’re biased,” I said, huffing with a smile.
“Well, even if I am, I’m not wrong,” she said, sticking her tongue out at the end, looking years younger than sixteen for a moment. She finally sat down, crossing her legs. “Where are they?”
“They’re on the way,” I said, chuckling as I felt the young werewolves driving together over the road to my side of the highway. “And you know you don’t get to dictate their schedules.This is for you, so you’ll wait on them as long as necessary. They’re the ones losing their own time to protect you, Carey.”
For her credit, Carey winced. She wasn’t one to have too much of an attitude or entitlement with those who worked for her father. She dealt with the guards begrudgingly or ignored them so she could try to live a normal life, and ignoring them was generally what the werewolves with her wanted. Heath never wanted anyone to feel intrusive in her life if she had to have guards with her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound so…” She slumped. “Bitchy.”
“Apology accepted this time. It’s a big day for you. I imagine there’s a lot on your mind.”
“Yeah…” Carey looked away, clearly going to those thoughts.
A few minutes later, the werewolves arrived, filing into my office, knowing there was a meeting this morning, just like the morning before.
“Good morning, Jacky! Hey, Carey!” Stacy grinned at us, taking the lead. She wasn’t the most dominant werewolf of the group, but at their age, age still mattered. Arlo was more dominant than her, and Kody was equal to her, but Stacy had been a werewolf the longest and was involved in important missions long before she Changed. Meeting me was one of those. She had too good a head on her shoulders to make her listen to a teenage boy.
“Good morning, Stacy,” I said, smiling as I stood back up. I shook her hand, keeping this as professional as possible while being surrounded by teenagers and a couple of kids in their early twenties.
